The little girl was trying to imitate Ciara's dance moves in the video for "Ride" in a bedroom with her little sister (or brother, they were too cute to tell) standing beside her trying to keep up. The response to the video has been mixed with people feeling her dance moves were inappropriate while others thought that it was innocent fun.
I personally felt totally uncomfortable watching the video and opted not to post it on Musically Yummy because quite frankly, to me it bordered child pornography *shrugs.*
SideBar: You can view the video here, but make sure you come on back :o).
Anyway, watching the video really had me thinking: Are artists really to blame for everything kids do? Preferably your kids?
The fact that people are blaming artists for the actions of other people's kids really makes little sense to me. I always felt that parents are the ones who are responsible for their own off-springs, they did bring them into the world. Counting on music artists or celebrities for that matter to raise or be the role models in your kids lives is just backwards.
Music artists are here to make a buck doing what they love. I doubt they are trying to market their materials to young kids, that is what Disney is for. Disney does a great job at keeping things clean and kid friendly.
Yes, I know, kids watch TV, listen to the radio, and are among the highest demographic of music buyers; but who's fault is that? If parents really don't want their kids doing certain things or watching certain things, keep them sheltered (although I don't condone this).
With all of these parental controls on TV some of the shows that display images inappropriate for children can be locked with just the click of a button on a remote control. And the parental advisory sticker on album covers and present before people download albums online are not there to make the album look pretty.
This same discussion about music artists as role models came up a few years back when Cam'ron and Damon Dash appeared on Bill O'Reilly's Fox show and were accused of being negative influences to the students of the Principle's (who was present during the interview) school.
The school's Principle argued that Cam'ron and rappers like him negatively influenced young teens, while Cam'ron insisted that it wasn't his responsibility to be a role model to children, that responsibility is for the parents and school officials.
When I was younger, I'll admit I was quite the fresh one. My parents were party animals so I was always in an entertainment environment with lots of music. I loved dancing at parties and definitely some of those dance moves were a bit questionable, nothing like the little girl in question but questionable nonetheless. Looking back at it now, I'm surprised that my parents didn't freak out, but I guess for them they thought I was just being a kid, and I was. I wasn't trying to be sexually suggestive with my dance moves I just knew how to move my hips.
At any rate, it was innocent fun and I didn't grow up to do porn or strip (not judging people who have careers in the aforementioned fields) so if you ask me everything turned out great!
I say all that to say this. Blaming artists for trying to make their money and putting them in a compromising position where they battle between being a role model and censoring their style is a responsibility most of them don't ask for. It's time for people to take responsibility for their own ish and stop blaming everyone besides themselves.
Perhaps parents becoming more proactive and strict (if their children listening to adult like material bothers them so much) when it comes to what their kids consume mentally and visually, could do more good for not just them but for everyone.
*steps down off of soap box*
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